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COMMANDERY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLOMBIA. 



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WAR PAPER 87. 



jr(e (?jabture o| [^ort [sjertrij arjd [^ort 
Roqaldsor], ^cDruarLj, 1862. 



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United §tafGS. 



dOMMAMDEI^y OF THE Dl^TI(ldT OF COLUMBIA. 



WAR PAPERS. 

87 

]^he (Capture of ^ort jsjcnrij aqd f^ort Poqaldsoq.l^ebruarLj, 1862. 

BY 

Companion 

JOHN G. GREENAWALT, 

Second Lieutenant, U. S, Volunteers. 

READ AT THE STATED MEETING OF JANUARY 3, 1912. 



PUBLICATION DIRECTED BY THE LITERARY COMMITTEE UNDER AUTHORITY 
OF ORDER OF THE COMMANDERY. 






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Gr 13 



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K iFfbritarg. 18B2. 



Following the outbreak of the War of the Rebellion in April, 
1 86 1, to the opening of the year 1862, the engagements had by 
the Union troops with the enemy were generally negative in 
results. Bull Run had well served to show how unprepared the 
government was for war, and Wilson's Creek, in August, where 
the brave Lyon fell, was at best a drawn battle, for, while the 
Union forces held the field, they soon fell back a hundred miles 
to Rolla. In October the lamented Colonel Baker lost his life in 
what has been called "a disaster" at Balls Bluff, and at Belmont, 
in November, while General Grant proved a resourceful com- 
ander, the result was again a retreat from an advanced posi- 
tion. In the autumn and fall the three-months men were return- 
ing to their homes and the troops replacing them, poorly supplied, 
suffered much from the exposure and hardships of the fall and 
winter campaigns, and in consequence of the conditions stated 
there was in the North a pronounced feeling of anxiety in relation 
to the outlook for the future of the Union. The loyal people 
were greatly despondent over the existing conditions. 

This feeling was intensified in the late fall and winter by what 
is known as the incident of "The Trent Affair. " This was the 
capture of the Confederate commissioners. Mason and Shdell, on 
November 8, 1861, from the deck of a British mail steamer in 
the Bahamas, by a vessel of the United States Navy. These 
envoys were en route to England and France to seek the inter- 
vention of those countries in the cause of the South, and the 
grave diplomatic questions which arose out of the action greatly 



increased the anxiety. The wise and prompt action of President 
Lincoln in directing the release and surrender of the captured 
commissioners alone abated the tense feeling, and, while his 
course was questioned by some at the time, later it was generally 
and fully concurred in by the loyal friends of the Union cause. 
Writing of General Grant's career, Goldwin Smith, the English 
historian and critic, said in recent years: "This great victory at 
Fort Donelson was the first light of hope in a darkness which 
seemed almost that of despair!" 

But the new year opened more auspiciously. On January lo, 
Col. James A. Garfield gained a decided victory near Preston- 
burg, Kentucky, and at Mill Springs in the same state the troops 
under Gen. George H. Thomas gained a signal victory on January 
19, in which engagement the Confederate general, Zollicoflfer, 
was killed. Early in February General Burnside effected the 
capture of forts and destruction of vessels of the Confederates at 
Roanoke Island, and the decisive success in the capture of Fort 
Henry on February 6 was followed by the surrender of Fort 
Donelson on the sixteenth to the Union forces. Those were all 
of the highest importance to the Union cause, and the hopes of 
its friends were raised from that of despair to confidence and an 
enthusiasm in its behalf. During the previous summer and fall 
the Confederates had laid out and established a line of operation 
and defense, extending from Columbus on the Mississippi 
through southwestern Kentucky and northern Tennessee to the 
mountains in the latter state, and had not only erected formid- 
able works at Columbus, at Fort Henry on the Tennessee, and 
at Fort Donelson near Dover on the Cumberland River, but had, 
too. a considerable and well-organized military force stationed 
at such points, and other places extending from the great river 
to the mountains of East Tennessee, General Polk being in com- 
mand at Columbus, General Zollicoffer then at Cumberland Gap, 



with Gen. Albert Sydney Johnson in command of the depart- 
ment with headquarters at Bowhng Green, Kentucky. 

Navigable from its mouth at Paducah into Alabama, the 
Tennessee River was to be defended by Fort Henry, while Fort 
Donelson was to protect the Cumberland from Smithland on the 
Ohio to Nashville and beyond. The latter, the capital of the 
state, was a point of vast importance to the southern cause, 
situated as it was in a rich agricultural region, and with the fer- 
tile fields of Kentucky on the north. Both by rail and river it 
largely controlled the movements of the troops and supplies, 
and with a firm foothold in Tennessee, southern Kentucky and 
southern Missouri — could they hold the smaller rivers and 
established lines of defen.se — they would confine the battles of 
the west to their front, and be able, they hoped, to check the 
advance of the western armies of the Union, and as well hold the 
navigation of the Mississippi from Cairo to New Orleans. Both 
from the military and political view, in gaining the favor of the 
people of such sections there was much at stake, especially so as 
those of Kentucky were endeavoring, in a manner, to remain 
neutral, but all such hopes were blasted, as point after point was 
taken by the advancing Union armies. 

On the Union side, early in September, General Grant had 
been placed in command of a district comprising territory in 
Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, with headquarters at Cairo, 
which place with points in the states named had heretofore been 
occupied, and his first important move was to occupy Paducah 
and Smithland as points for future operations. General Halleck 
at St. Louis, who had succeeded General Fremont in November, 
was importuned by General Grant for authority to advance 
against the enemy on the Tennessee, desiring to strike near his 
center, but it was not until about February i when, perhaps 
infiuenced by the desire and order of President Lincoln for a 



general advance by February 22, that tacit consent for such a 
campaign was gained, and Commodore Andrew Hull Foote, with 
his gunboat flotilla, directed to co-operate in the contemplated 
movement. 

General Grant immediately commenced active preparations 
for the advance, troops were concentrated at Cairo and Paducah, 
and on February 3 the divisions of Generals John A. McClernand 
and Charles F. Smith, with a brigade commanded by Gen. Lew 
Wallace, were landed from transports a few miles below Fort 
Henry, to which point they had been convoyed by the gunboats. 
The creeks and streams in the vicinity were swollen by recent 
rains, which made it necessary that bridges be built for the 
wagon and artillery trains, and the roads were almost impass- 
able, hence the progress of the land forces was slow, but the high 
stage of water in the river was favorable to the ironclads, and 
they advanced and attacked the fort at 1 1.45 A. M. of February 
6. Firing from the fort promptly followed, and in a brief time 
the action was terrific! In this, their first trial, the ironclads 
easily won, and at 2 P. M. the Confederate flag was lowered, 
and surrender followed upon the arrival of General Grant soon 
after. Early in the day General Tighlman, in command of the 
fort, had sent the infantry, cavalry and light artillery garrison — 
all but the artillerists of the water batteries — to his outer works 
on the Donelson Road, and, owing to the inability of the Union 
land forces to arrive in time, the Confederate forces indicated — 
estimated at from 3,000 to 4,000 men — escaped and made their 
way to Fort Donelson, while General Tighlman, his personal 
staff" and some ninety men surrendered. The heavy guns, much 
ammunition and considerable c^uantitites of army stores were 
captured. The casualties to the enemy were slight, while the 
Union loss on the vessels was fortv-one in killed and woimded. 



THE move; upon fort donelson. 

With this prehminary of the situation, we come to the imme- 
diate move upon Fort Donelson on February 12, 1862, when 
General Grant with about 15,000 men marched overland from 
Fort Henry upon that stronghold fourteen miles away on the 
Cumberland. Exceedingly broken by ravines, creeks and gul- 
lies, generally wooded with timber of medium growth and thick 
underbrush, the ground about the defenses was also quite hilly, 
and fronting the river on the east, the fort proper was well built 
upon a plateau of ground covering about one hundred acres, 
and at an average height of one hundred feet above the ordinary 
level of the water of the river. Their regular main fort was 
enclosed with effective earthworks with bastions and ditches, and 
on the wings, both north and south, field works consisting of 
intrenchments and rifle pits were thrown up, such works being 
crested with logs from under which the enemy fired, while back 
of the main fort on the land side, as well as in front of the field 
works, the trees had been felled and the underbrush slashed and 
cut, forming an effective and wide abatis. 

A further formidable defense was two water batteries occupy- 
ing the bluffs of the river on the north, the armament comprising 
one lo-inch columbiad, eleven 32-pounders, and a rifled piece 
carrying a 128-pound shot. These batteries were well con- 
structed, had an elevation of thirty-two feet above the stage of 
the water at the time of the attack, and were served by experi- 
enced artillerists. 

In addition to infantry and cavalry the fort and outer works 
were well supplied with field guns and batteries of light artillery, 
and, as a whole, it was one of the most formidable positions 
of the enemy attacked during the war. General Grant well 
said: "Nature has done much to make a situation almost 
impregnable!" 



The Confederate forces at Donelson were commanded by Gen. 
John B. Floyd, aided by Generals Gideon J. Pillow, and Simon 
B. Buckner, the cavalry troops being under Col. N. B. Forrest. 

The Compte de Paris in his Memoirs of the Civil War states: 

"The importance of Donelson after the fall of Fort Henr}^was 
equally appreciated by both the Federal and Confederate forces 
as that fort alone was able to stop the Federal forces on the 
Cumberland and protect the Capitol of Tennessee." 

Again this observer says: 

" The attack of General Grant upon an entrenched enemy was 
a bold movement. His army, hastily recruited, was illy sup- 
plied ; many regiments were without necessary equipments for a 
winter campaign even in that latitude. In this condition the 
Union forces were about to attack an enemy equal in numbers, 
posted inside of works carefully constructed, and controlling the 
river which secured his communications and bases of supplies. 
But General Grant knew what he could expect from the hardy 
men of the West who composed his army." 

Leaving Fort Henry, General McClernand's division posted 
on the Donelson Road first reached the scene of action, and took 
position on the right of the line of attack. Gen. Charles F. 
Smith's division followed and was assigned to the left, while 
Gen. Lew Wallace's brigade was left to guard the property cap- 
tured at Fort Henry. Six regiments under Col. John M. Thayer, 
of Nebraska, arriving at Fort Henry that morning, were directed 
to return by river and report at Donelson upon the transports 
conveying them, and were accompanied by the ironclads on their 
way. 

General McClernand's division, opposed by small parties of 
the enemy's cavalry only, approached and deployed to the right, 
and upon the arrival of General Smith's division later he drew 
his lines closer to the enemy's outer works, General Smith taking 



position to the left without opposition. The battle commenced 
at daybreak the next morning of the thirteenth, when the enemy 
opened with sharp artillery fire on the right, and supported by 
infantry, advanced from his intrenchments, and engagements 
followed with varying results during the entire day. Driven 
back at points, the enemy, reinforced by light batteries and 
infantry, again sallied forth and the Union batteries falling short 
of ammunition were obliged to withdraw some distance, where a 
stand was eflfected. On the extreme right the Union regiments 
fought to points near the enemy's works, where they were held 
from further advance by the fallen timber and underbrush, and 
as night fell the Union troops maintained positions taken in the 
face of protected batteries and the sharpshooters of the enemy, 
after serious losses in killed and wounded. 

During the day General Smith also extended his lines on the 
left to near the enemy's outer works on the hills in front, and in 
an engagement displacing an annoying battery of light artillery, 
the 25th Indiana, in a sharp fight, lost fourteen men killed and 
sixty-one wounded, and the 14th Iowa two killed and fourteen 
wounded. And so closed the second day at Donelson in a driv- 
ing snowstorm, and the Union troops without tents or rations 
except as their haversacks supplied, in positions and surround- 
ings hardly known, passed a gloomy night, their pickets, with 
those of the foe, shivering under the stress of the day and the 
hostile elements of the night, as they disputed the narrow space 
between the lines and parties from either side gathered their 
dead and carried away the wounded from the field of the day's 
struggles. 

Friday the fourteenth opened cold but clear, and, severely 
tried as the troops were, they promptly rose to duty. On the 
right General McClernand strengthened his positions and on the 
left as well the day passed without incident, except exchange 



lO 

of shots between the artillery and sharpshooters of the oppo- 
nents. Under orders, Gen. Lew Wallace brought his brigade 
from Fort Henry, and with Colonel Thayer's brigade arriving 
by river a new division was formed, and under command of 
General Wallace it took position in the center, General Smith 
concentrating to the left. The 2nd Iowa Infantry, arriving on 
the fourteenth, was assigned to Colonel Lauman's brigade and 
placed on the extreme left of General Smith's line of investment. 

The flotilla of gunboats arriving on the night of the thirteenth 
had taken position below the range of fire from the water bat- 
teries of the enemy and remained quiet until about 3 o'clock 
P. M. of the fourteenth, when Commodore Foote made an attack 
upon the latter, but after an engagement of an hour and a half, 
met with signal defeat, several of his disabled vessels drifting 
helpless down the swift current of the narrow river. Through 
inflicting considerable injury to the enemy's guns the able gun- 
ners of the water batteries defeated the ironclads which had ren- 
dered such effective service at Fort Henry a few days before. 
The loss on the attacking vessels was fifty-four men in killed and 
wounded. Flag Officer Foote being himself severely injured. 

General Grant's own comment on the situation the night of 
the fourteenth was in substance as follows. 

That until the arrival of Wallace by land and Thayer's troops 
by the river on the fourteenth he had but 15,000 men, without 
intrenchments and with the enemy in well constructed defenses 
and an army of 21,000 men, and no conflict ensued other than 
that brought about by the national troops. On the afternoon 
of that day, ironclads which had alone caused the surrender of 
Fort Henry eight days before, were utterly defeated in their pur- 
pose after an hour and a half's engagement. Rain set in during 
the afternoon of the fourteenth and by evening was followed by 
snow, and a crust of sleety ice covered everything. 



II 

To quote General Grant again : 

"The sun went down on the night of the fourteenth of P'ebru- 
ary, 1862, leaving the army confronting Fort Donelson anything 
but comforted over the prospects." 

Another writer said: 

"The men lay in sleet and snow in the bitter cold, but for- 
titude and courage were never more bravely displayed. * * * 
Officers and men * * * stood to their arms, ready for the 
work of an eventful day!" 

Saturday the fifteenth dawned cold and clear, and proved to 
be the decisive day of the battle which had been on since the 
twelfth. In the early morning, General Grant, after a consulta- 
tion with Commodore Foote of the fleet on his flagship, as he had 
been wounded, had about concluded to enter into a siege and 
await reinforcements, but as he left the vessel of the flag officer 
he was met by an aid with information that the enemy coming 
in force from his lines had attacked McClernand's right and 
driven the Union troops back in retreat! This message was 
startling, and General Grant at once started for the scene of 
action, but owing to the bad roads he did not reach there — 
nearly five miles away — until about i o'clock P. M., and soon 
learned that McClernand's troops, running short of ammunition 
after severe fighting since early morning, were obliged to fall 
back until reinforced by a portion of General Wallace's division 
when the further advance of the Confederates was halted after 
heavy losses on both sides. 

Very early in the day the enemy in large numbers had come 
from his defenses and made desperate attack at several points 
on the right, and soon a serious battle was in progress. Though 
several times repulsed, the Confederates rallied with increased 
forces of light artillery and infantry and bravely renewed their 



12 

efforts, and after the most gallant attack and defense until about 
1 1 o'clock A. M., the Union troops covering a long line of invest- 
ment, and impeded by the woods and thick underbrush, and also 
falling short of ammunition, were obliged to fall back until 
relieved by the freslj troops of General Wallace's division. Upon 
the call of General McClernand in the early forenoon, General 
Wallace had sent Colonel Cruft's brigade to his aid. Going 
to the extreme right, for a time it bore the brunt of attack from 
that direction, and later, accompanied by General Wallace in 
person. Colonel Thayer's brigade was also sent forward to con- 
front the advancing enemy. With the aid of a section of a 
Chicago battery of light artillery under Uieutenant Wood, this 
brigade, too, rendered most efficient service, the advancing 
enemy was halted, and McClernand's troops in the meantime 
being resupplied with ammunition, their further progress was 
effectively stopped. The losses of the day had already, however, 
been very heavy, Oglesby's brigade of Illinois troops alone 
having lost over 800 in killed and wounded in the engagements 
before 1 1 o'clock of that morning, the brave troops again 
fighting as gallantly as on the thirteenth when they held the 
enemy to his lines. One of the officers, in his report of the early 
fighting of the day, said: "The wounded, the mangled, the 
dying and the dead formed a scene which baffled description, the 
battle raging while the surgeons were assuaging the wounds!" 
But with the lines reformed, the enemy was again attacked 
and driven back, and discouraged, they ceased the struggle 
toward i o'clock P. M., and the successful Union troops were 
resting on their arms as the commander. General Grant, soon 
after rode up to where the two division chiefs were in consulta- 
tion and from whom, in a brief time, he learned the conditions 
and at once grasped the situation. 

It was for the Union armv indeed a critical moment. Delav 



. ^3 

meant that the Confederates would be reinforced from Nashville 
and Bowling Green not far away, the river to Nashville being 
unguarded; but just at this juncture, upon examining captured 
Confederates, it was found that, while fighting, the enemy were 
carrying haversacks filled with rations. Grant reasoned quickly 
and concluded the early morning movement was an effort to 
break through the lines, and escape with as many of the main 
force as might be possible; and as quickly deciding his course, 
at once directed Generals McClernand and Wallace to re-attack 
the enemy and regain the positions held in the morning. This 
was done and after a sharp conflct of two hours more the 
Confederates again fell back into their works and the roads to 
Nashville were once more in possession of the Union forces, 
and the troops rested upon such conquest. 

General Grant, after his orders to Generals McClernand and 
Wallace, rode hastily to the left and directed General Smith to 
make an immediate attack upon the works of the enemy upon 
the hill in his front, and the order was promptly executed. Gen- 
eral Smith, in his report of the engagement which followed, states : 

" In directing the assault on the right the artillery was ordered 
to open lire heavily, and the brigade commanders, pressing for- 
ward with large numbers of skirmishers to make a dash at any 
available opening — while the 2nd Iowa Infantry, supported by 
the 25th and 52nd Indiana, was selected to lead the assault. 
The 2nd Iowa was ordered to rely on the bayonet and not to fire 
a shot until the enemy's ranks were broken. " 

As a private soldier in the 2nd Iowa and a participant in the 
charge which followed, the writer may be pardoned for any 
personality appearing in the description of the movement and 
decisive action which followed. Organized in May, 1861, the 
regiment had rendered considerable service, but had been in no 
engagement with the enemy under fire. Stationed at St. Louis, 



Mo., where it had been ordered in November, 1861, to recruit its 
ranks — in the meanwhile guarding Confederate prisoners of 
war — on February 10, 1862, it was directed to join General 
Grant's army, and the cold, raw morning of the fourteenth found 
the command on the transport steamer McGill near the 
wooded bank of the Cumberland, a few miles below Fort Donel- 
son. It was assigned to General Smith's Division, and after 
disembarking and a march of some four miles over the worst 
possible roads, reached the scene and was placed in Colonel 
Lauman's brigade on the extreme left of the Union line of invest- 
ment. The bleak day was spent in vain endeavor to keep warm, 
and the worse night following was one of great hardship and 
exposure for the contending armies — friends and foes. Early 
sounds of cannon and musketry on the right the morning of the 
fifteenth, and increasing as the time passed, told the story of the 
battle raging there, but on the left the troops could only con- 
jecture from vague reports what the results were as the hours 
wore away. 

The men had been told to keep near the lines of their stacked 
guns ready for any emergency, and suddenly, about three 
o'clock, an officer of commanding appearance, accompanied by 
several aids, dashed up on horseback and, after addressing our 
colonel, the regiment quickly fell in, took arms and saluted the 
division commander. Gen. Charles F. Smith. In a few words 
he said he had been directed by General Grant to attack the 
enemy, and that he had selected the 2nd Iowa to lead the charge 
upon their works. To succeed, it musi: rely upon the bayonet 
and not attempt to fire a shot until inside the intrenchments ! 
He is quoted as saying: "If you succeed in driving the enemy 
from his position it will be the key to the fort. Reserve your fire 
imtil you reach the works. " 

Telling Colonel Tuttle the signal to start would be three can- 



15 

non shots fired in quick succession, he rode away to arrange for 
support. A graduate from West Point in 1825, General Smith 
had long served, and for gallant conduct at Contreras and Cheru- 
busco in Mexico had been promoted colonel. The division did 
not then know, however, what a magnificent officer their leader 
was, but his soldierly figure and bearing as he rode his restive 
horse inspired the greatest admiration and confidence, and the 
630 men, the rank and file of the regiment, stood awaiting the 
signal — and action, which meant sure and quick death to many 
in its ranks. Perhaps in the few moments all the emotions of 
the human heart were tried before the strain was broken as the 
sharp cannon shots rang out and General Smith again rode up, 
exclaiming: "2nd Iowa, you must take the fort; take the caps 
from your guns, fix bayonets, and I will lead you!" 

The command, "Forward!" followed, and the left wing lead- 
ing, marched in column from the thin line of woods which had 
hid the regiment from the enemy, and, moving across an open 
field, formed in line beyond with the right wing following in the 
same order; and with colors on the right, the regiment fronted 
the enemy and without a halt advanced steadily forward against 
the earthworks at the top of the hill, from which the firing had 
already commenced two hundred yards away! The left wing 
led, the right followed close up, with General Smith riding in the 
rear, and the supporting regiments following as directed. 

Marching in the ranks of the left wing the writer prefers to let 
another tell the story of the charge of the 2nd Iowa Infantry up 
the hill at Donelson on that Saturday afternoon of February 15, 
1862, and quotes the account of the correspondent of the Xew 
York World, who was present and wrote his paper as follows: 

"the LAST DECISIVE CHARGE. 

" On the right lay an open space up which climbed the brigade 
of Lauman. The 2d Iowa led the charge followed by the 



i6 



rest in their order. Onward they speed heedless of the bullets 
and balls of the enemy above; the hill was so steep, the timber 
cleared, that the rebels had left a gap in their line of rifle pits on 
this crest of the hill. Right up they went climbing on all fours, 
their line of dark blue clothing advancing regularly forward to 
the white line of smoke from the top of the works fronting the 
line of our troops. They reach the top! Numbers fall! The 
suspense is breathless! vSee, they climb over the works — they 
fall — they are lost! Another group, and still another, and 
another, close up the gap. All is covered with smoke. The 
lodgement is made — the troops swarm up the hillside, their 
bright bayonets glittering in the sun; the lire slackens! Captain 
Stone's battery of rifled lo-pounders close behind the brigade is 
tugging up the hill, the horses plunging, the riders whipping; 
upward they go where never a vehicle went before; up the pre- 
cipitous and clogged sides of the hill. No sooner on the crest 
than the guns are unlimbered, the men at their posts; percussion 
shells and canister are shot spitefully from the Parrott guns at 
the flying enemy. The day is gained — the position is taken — 
the troops surround the guns, the 34-pounder which has caused 
so much havoc is silenced, and the rebels fly to their main fort in 
alarm. The day is gained — the foe is running — cheers upon 
cheers rend the air, but in a few moments all is hushed!" 

The charge was a success and the works were won, but as the 
pall of smoke rose from the scene, two hundred dead and 
wounded of the 2nd Iowa alone — among whom your writer lay 
in the tangled path below — told the cost of its victory ! General 
vSmith in his report said of the 2nd Iowa: "The movement of 
this regiment was a very handsome exhibition of soldierly con- 
duct, " and General Grant added, saying: "The charge on the 
left under General Smith was most brilliantly executed and gave 
to our arms full assurance of victory. " The regiment was ably 
supported by the brigade, which lost 357 in killed and wounded, 
the 2nd Iowa having 54 killed and died of wounds, and 143 addi- 
tional wounded in the assault. In full possession of the field 



17 

works contended for, as night came on the troops rested on their 
arms, the dead were buried, the wounded carried away and heavy 
guns mounted in the captured works in anticipation of early 
re-attack from the enemy, as presaged by the bugle calls and 
sounds of moving artillery from their camps nearby. But no 
guns sounded as the morning broke, and instead of the thunder 
of the artillery, the early sun-rays streaming out over the hills 
revealed the white flags of surrender flying from the outer bas- 
tions of the main fort of the enemy, and a little later Captain 
Mills, of the 2nd Iowa, advanced with a party to meet an 
approaching flag of truce, and a few hours later General Buckner, 
upon whom the disagreeable duty devolved by the escape of 
Generals Floyd and Pillow during the night, completely surrren- 
dered upon the peremptory demand of General Grant, as follows, 
and the siege of Fort Donelson was ended. 

"Headquarters in the Field, 
Near Donelson, 

February 16, 1862. 
"General vS. B. Buckner, 

Confederate Armies. 
"Sir: Yours of this date proposing armistice and appointment 
of commissioners to settle terms of capitulation is just received. 
No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender 
can be accepted. I propose to move immediately upon your 
works. 

"I am, sir, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

(Signed) U. S. Grant, 

Brig. General Cont'd' g." 

While Fort Donelson was being besieged. President Lincoln 
telegraphed General Halleck at St. Louis, saying: 

" Our success or failure at Fort Donelson is vastly important, 
and I beg you to put your soul in the effort. " 



i8 

The same day General Halleck telegraphed McCIellan : 

" Fort Donelson is the turning point of the war, and we must 
take it at whatever sacrifice!" 

and on that same day, February 16, 1862, Grant's answer was: 

"We have taken Fort Donelson and from 12,000 to 15,000 
prisoners of war!" 

When the Union army marched in to take possession, the 
2d Iowa, with its band leading, headed the column, and Gen- 
eral Halleck telegraphed the Adjutant-General of Iowa: 

"The 2d Iowa proved themselves the bravest of the brave; 
they had the honor of leading the column which entered Fort 
Donelson. " 

One of the survivors of the assault wrote me recently as follows: 

"This entry into the captured works was made while you were 
lying on the crest of the captured hill — or in the field hospital. 
What a pity that you could not be with us that Sunday morn- 
ing, February 16, 1862, when we at the head of the troops entered 
Fort Donelson, uncontrolled tears streaming over our cheeks, 
tears of exultation mixed with sorrow, brought forth by the 
hearty cheers of the lined-up conquered foe, who had fought us 
so stubbornly the day previous. This day stands forth as the 
proudest day of my life, the 2d Iowa having been designated 
by General Grant to take the lead into the now surrendered fort.' ' 

All the troops of the Union army fought bravely. Few had 
previously been under fire, but their conduct in all the engage- 
ments of the battle, on the right, left and center was magnifi- 
cent, and General Grant accorded full credit for their heroic 
assaults upon the enemy whenever ordered into battle. It was 
about the first engagement of the war in which attacking troops 



19 

assaulted the enemy in his own intrenchments, and the brave 
and intrepid lUinois and other troops who so often and gallantly 
charged upon and drove back the columns of the enemy on the 
right are entitled to special mention and commendation for heroic 
effort. Three-fourths of the total Union loss was sustained by 
Illinois organizations which participated in the battle. Troops 
from Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Nebraska 
were also active in the engagement, as well as several companies 
of regular cavalry. 

The total losses on the Union side, as stated in the reports 
made at the time, were : 

Officer? killed 22 

Enlisted men killed 478 

Officers wounded 87 

Enlisted men wounded 2,021 

Missing (captured) 224 



2,832 
To which should be added 10 killed and 46 
wounded on the ironclads 56 



Making the total loss 2,888 

The capitulation delivered into the hands of General (irant, 
as shown by official reports, 14,623 prisoners of war, 65 
cannon, 17,000 muskets, that it to say, an army and all its 
equipments, together with a large quantity of army stores and 
provisions. 

On the Confederate side, no battle of the Civil War subjected 
the commanding officers to more severe criticism from the leaders 
at Richmond and the public of the vSouth. Generals Floyd and 
Pillow were at once relieved of command, and public opinion 
censured Gen. Albert vSydney Johnston as well for the loss of the 



20 

fort, its defenders and stores, and for the hasty evacuation of 
Nashville, and the further loss of the large quantitites of sup- 
plies concentrated there. General Pillow was severely criticised 
later for not following up his success in driving the Federal forces 
back, and failure to overwhelm the separated Union divisions, 
or at least to escape with his troops to Nashville, but his explan- 
ations was that General Floyd, his superior, had ordered him to 
fall back into the intrenchments. 

Long and voluminous correspondence ensued in which there 
was wide variance in acceptance of blame or for responsibility, 
but the conclusion reached and announced at Richmond was; 
"It is impossible to acquit Brigadier-General Pillow of grave 
errors of judgment in the military operations which resulted in 
the surrender of the army. " 

A careful student of military movements would probably 
attribute the Confederate defeat to a a lack of concentrated 
effort at any point or period of the battle. On the twelfth when 
the two divisions of Genera) Grant's little army alone approached 
Donelson, marching in columns by diverging roads, their arrival 
separated by hours of time with the gunboat fleet still on the 
Tennessee — it is certain the cavalry forces of the enemy were 
superior in number, and his light artillery and infantry supported 
by the strength of his lines at least equal, if not superior, yet 
the Union troops were scarcely molested in the investment of 
the long line of his defenses. The early attacks of the enemy 
on the thirteenth were not concerted and the efforts- of artillery 
and infantry supports were ineffectual in displacing the Union 
troops from positions taken. While on the fifteenth their early 
morning efforts met with greater success at the outset, their 
intention to cut their way out and escape with the greater part 
of their forces was frustrated, as their own leader claimed, for 
lack of support at the critical moment of the attempted move- 



21 

ment.and again they were driven back to their sheltering breast- 
works after most desperate effort and fighting of those engaged. 

It must be assumed, however, that in any event the positions 
taken by the Confederates on the lower waters of the Tennessee 
and the Cumberland would become untenable in time, especially 
so as the State of Kentucky had refused to join the coalition of 
the seceding states, and its people had failed to afford the aid 
expected, but, had they saved Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, 
or even the forces and the supplies there and at Nashville, the 
conflict at Shiloh might possibly have resulted differently, and 
perhaps have enabled General Beauregard to have kept his boast 
' ' that he would water his horse in the Tennessee at Pittsburgh 
Landing on Sunday night!" 

This comment is in no sense meant as a reflection upon the 
bravery of the foe at Donelson. Fighting as they did from the 
trenches, the water batteries, or in the open field, they too had 
the bitter hostile elements of the wintry storms as well as brave 
men to contend with, and exposed as they were for four or five 
days and nights, without shelter, covering or sleep, with the 
utmost courage they endured until duty and honor required no 
more of useless sacrifice. 

A Confederate leader said : 

"We left upon the field nearly all his wounded because we 
could not move them, his dead because we could not bury them; 
such conflict and carnage has perhaps never before occurred on 
this continent." 

General Floyd, in his report of the surrender, said : 

"Thus ended the conflict maintained four days and nights 
with great fierceness and obstinacy. Nothing could exceed the 
courage which characterized the troops throughout the terrible 
struggle," 



22 



and such encomium should apply equally to the opposing forces 
in the battle. 

Confederate leaders and writers have always contended that 
their forces at Fort Donelson were greatly over-estimated, 
and the Union troops under-estimated. General Grant in his 
Mentoirs says: 

"It is probable the Confederate force at Donelson on the 
fifteenth day of February, 1862, was 21,000 in round numbers. 
On the day that Donelson fell I had but 27,000 men to confront 
the Confederate lines and guard the road four or five miles to the 
left, over which all our supplies had to be hauled by wagons. 
During the sixteenth, after the surrender, additional reinforce- 
ments arrived." 

He quotes that General Buckner told him the force surren- 
dered was not less than 12,000 nor more than 15,000. In his 
report of the surrender General Buckner states 3,000 men escaped 
with Floyd. On the Confederate side the largest force admitted 
was 17,000 by Col. Preston Johnson, C. S. A. It is elsewhere 
stated that from 2,500 to 3,000 escaped with Generals Floyd 
and Pillow on the transports to Nashville and across the river 
after the council of war had determined to surrender. Colonel 
Forrest reports that above 500 of his own cavalry and two hun- 
dred mounted men of other commands rode through the slough 
and escaped with him on horseback. Several Confederate 
writers agree that after it was known the surrender was to take 
place many escaped across the river. An eminent Kentuckian 
(N. vS Shaffer) wrote: 

" It was determined to surrender after a portion of the army 
had been passed over the river to the uninvested side of the 
fortress, and another part had escaped up the river on the 
steamers." 



^2> 

Fox, in his work on losses in the Civil War, states the losses 
of the Confederates at Donelson as follows : Killed 466, wounded 
1,534, captured 13,829. 

General Grant comments on the matter further, saying that 
at Cairo rations were issued for 14,623 Fort Donelson prisoners 
as they passed that point. Generals Floyd and Pillow were non- 
committal but admitted over 2,000 killed and wounded, but 
Pillow qualified this by saying that 1,534 wounded had been 
sent away before the surrender and 400 subsequently to Paducah. 
The killed must surely have numbered 500. The estimates of 
General Grant were verified by him in fixing the force of the 
enemy at about 21,000 in round numbers on February fifteenth. 
Whatever the forces the strong defenses of the Confederates 
made the attacking and defending armies equal. Under the 
rule of war, intrenched as they were, they should have beaten 
back three or four times as many of an attacking force. 

In his report to the authorities at Richmond explaining the 
defeat, Gen. A. S. Johnston wrote: "I determined to fight for 
Nashville at Donelson, and gave the best of my army to do it. " 

A Southern historian of the Civil War has said of the loss of 
Fort Donelson to the Confederates: 

"The chance of ultimate Confederate success in Kentucky 
depended on the issue of this defense more than it ever depended 
on any other battle in the Mississippi Valley. It was for the 
Southern cause the most serious action of the war. If there ever 
was a position in which a desperate defense was called for, it was 
at Fort Donelson." 

To the Confederate leaders at Richmond the defeat at Donel- 
son was indeed a disaster. Their hopes of holding Tennessee 
and gaining Kentucky into the Southern coalition were gone. 
An army of men and equipments, heavy artillery guns, light bat- 



24 

teries and considerable cavalry was lost, together with large 
quantities of ammunition and military stores. 

Explaining the transfer of authority at the critical moment 
by Floyd to Pillow, and by the latter to Buckner, Colonel 
Johnston, C. S. A., General Buckner's aid-de-camp, relates: 

"General Floyd thought that, owing to his having been Secre- 
tary of War (in Buchanan's Administration from 1857 to 1861), 
the Federal Government would be particularly anxious to cap- 
ture him, and for him to surrender would endanger his life. 

"Floyd said, 'General Pillow, I turn this command over to 
you. ' 

"Pillow said, ' Why, they would rather have me than JefT Davis. 
I cannot surrender; General Buckner, I turn the command over 
to you ! ' 

"Buckner's reply was: 'Gentlemen, you must decide for your- 
selves; as for me, I will share the fate of my troops. ' " 

Dr. John A. Wyeth, a Confederate soldier who surrendered 
at Donelson, in his Life of General N. B. Forrest, the Confeder- 
ate cavalry leader, says: 

"The struggle at Donelson was the lirst decisive battle of the 
Civil War. The Confederate historian will yet decide that in 
shaping events which, step by step brought the downfall of the 
vSouthern coalition. Fort Donelson stands pre-eminent. It was 
a blow which staggered the Confederacy, and from which it is 
safe to say it never wholly recovered. " 

Congratulating the troops taking part. General Grant said, 
on h^ebruary 18, 1862: 

"The victory achieved at Fort Donelson is not only great in 
breaking down rebellion, but has secured the greatest number of 
prisoners of war ever taken in one field on this continent. Fort 
Donelson will hereafter be marked in capital letters on the maps 
of our United Coimtrv." 



25 

The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson was acclaimed as 
most effective victories by the loyal people of the North, and 
the successes stimulated the patriotic impulse and relieved the 
feeling of doubt and uncertainty which had so generally existed. 
To the armies of the Union in the field it gave confidence and 
assurance of good leadership, and its benefits to the new soldiery 
in this respect could not be overestimated. The enemy hastily 
evacuated Bowling Green and Nashville, at the latter place 
abandoning great quantities of stores, and a vast territory in its 
retreat to the upper waters of the Tennesssee where, making a 
stand at Shiloh, they were again defeated in April following. 
Of the heroic leaders of the Union forces at Donelson it is of 
record that many won high rank and added honors during the 
war and after. Here bravely and well fought McClernand of 
Illinois; Lew Wallace of Indiana, distinguished as soldier, diplo- 
mat and author; the gallant McPherson killed at Atlanta in 
1864; Logan, soldier and statesman; W. H. L. Wallace, also of 
Illinois, killed at Shiloh, and many others. 

Charles Ferguson Smith, the division commander, was made 
a major-general, but had fought his last battle at Donelson. 
Following the foe in retreat, he died at vSavannah on the Ten- 
nessee in April. He had served as an officer in the United States 
Army for thirty-seven years, and, as brave as Phil Kearny, 
killed at Chantilly, and with the energy of Phil Sheridan, was a 
glorious type of the American soldier. 

The hero of the armies and of the people of the north after his 
effective victory, Ulysses S. Grant became the commander-in- 
chief and the victorious general of the Civil War. His exhorta- 
tion for peace at its close won the plaudits of the nation, and his 
magnanimity the praise of a defeated foe. His determination of 
will and constancy proved him the ideal military leader in a 
great conflict, and as soldier, executive and citizen he served his 



26 



country well, and was honored by its people and the world in his 
passing. 

No monument of state marks the field, but the men — the rank 
and the file — who fought, who fell, at Donelson, need not 

"The storied urn, or chiseled marble" 

in remembrance. While time remains the story of their deeds 
will be told by the children of men. 



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